Southern Connecticut
Polymer Clay Guild, Inc.
Not-A-Newsletter for Feb 16, 2002 Meeting
===== Reminders
---Membership runs annually Jan to Jan so dues are now due and they are $15. Please mail to Sue Rankin, our new Treasurer, if you are not able to come to the meeting. (make out checks to Southern Connecticut Polymer Clay Guild, Inc. (or SCPCG) and mail to: SCPCG c/o Sue Rankin, 477 Church Hill Rd., Trumbull, CT06611)
----The 3 beads for the beadstrand are also due. Please have them in by March 2002.
----Sharon Mihalyak's clay relief etching, "Scraps of Time", was happily won by
Debbie Goodrow, who will be providing the next item to be raffled off at the March
meeting.
----Raffle-chain drawings will be held Jan, Mar, May, Aug, Oct
.
---- Our Guild had great success at the Bead Bazaar this past year, and we will be doing it again. So...Start your Beads!!!
=====
Bottles of Hope Classes
We need some volunteers to run/help at two upcoming Bottles of Hope workshops.
All of you are more than qualified to do this!
Diane will run the April 8th meeting but needs help.
And we need someone to run the March 5th meeting.
Please respond! As you know, we have the BOH supply box, so all we need is your
time and talent.
Thanks.
Tracy BoH Coordinator
---- March 5th - East Hartford Women's Club, Veteran's Memorial Club
House,
contact Barbara Brzezinski, 63 Skyline Drive, E. Hartford, CT 06118, (860)
568-8375. May have up to 40-50 people.
---- April 8th - 8:00 p.m., 1 hour hands-on workshop, St. Vincent DePaul Ladies
Guild, Taylor Avenue, East Haven, contact Connie (from the East Haven Women's
Club) at (203) 467-9594. Diane Villano will conduct this workshop, but since
they expect 35-40 people, she will need at least two guild members to assist.
====
Clay
Connection 2002 - July 12,13,14
Volunteers will be needed, even if you
can offer just a few hours.
Some jobs can be done long before the retreat,
some during the retreat.
There is always a need for volunteers....let us know what your interests
are......
=====Classes, Workshops, Retreats
---February
21, 10:00 to 12:00, Thursday
Debbie Goodrow at Killingworth Library, Route 81, Killingworth Mother
and Child intro to Polymer Clay
A brief, hands on, introduction to polymer clay. Participants
will be bringing home a small finished product.
---March
9 10:00 am Š 4:00 pm Saturday
Diane Villano at GHC Polymer Clay and
Rubber Stamp Heart Art Collage
This will be a free wheeling, relaxed workshop for students with some polymer
clay experience to explore the endless possibilities of combining polymer clay
and rubber-stamping. Students will create a bas-relief collage focusing on heart
shapes. Techniques will include rubber stamped images enhanced with mica
powders, embossing powder as an inclusion in polymer clay canes and impressed
Mokume Gane.
Materials fee $5 payable with tuition. Member
Tuition: $53 Non-member Tuition: $58
---March
21, 2002, 7:00 to 9:00pm, Thursdays,
5 weeks (skipping March 28th and April 25th)
Debbie Goodrow - Clinton Adult
Education Evening Classes Morgan School, Route 81, Clinton
Polymer Clay Techniques and
Hints Faux techniques,
image transfers, Millefiori, Molding, caning,
and Mokume Gane are just some of the possibilities for this class. Class members
will choose what techniques will be emphasized. Handy tips and ideas for making
working with polymer clay easier and more fun will be shared. You'll be bringing
several finished items home!
Tuition $25.00 Materials Fee: $10 (includes your choice of 5 oz of different
polymer clay colors and a tissue blade)
---March
24, 2002; 11- 4 PM, Sunday @ GHC Clay
Day:
Please give suggestions for what you'd like to have taught or highlighted.
Put your suggestions on our message board http://pluto.beseen.com/boardroom/n/55120/
Cost will be $10 for members, $15 for
guests.
====some volunteers needed
---Promotion Coordinator - someone to help get the word out about the guild and our programs
---We will need volunteers for the
retreat. There is always a need for talented volunteers. Let us know where you
would like to help.
=====Traveling Exhibit
We are still accepting
additional items to display. The display seems to have many ‘jewelry’ items.
We’d like to show some of the alternate uses of polymer clay. Any ‘other’
items are solicited, for example -salt and peppershakers, -notebook covers,
-serving ware with pc handles, -curtain finials, -tiles, or anything else you
can think of.
Traveling Exhibit Schedule:
FEBRUARY Madison Library 801
Boston Post Rd, Madison
MARCH
North Haven Library, 17 Elm St. North Haven
APRIL Trumbull Public Library, 33
Quality St.
JUNE Blackstone Library, South
Main Street, Branford
AUGUST Milford Library 57 New
Haven Ave.
SEPTEMBER Hamden Miller Memorial
Library
OCTOBER Cheshire 104 Main St.
====From
Jan Meeting
There were 15 members in attendance.
Thank you, Diane, for the wonderful demonstration of Screening on clay. You made
it ‘look’ easy!
One of the questions was HOW LONG to expose the material to light. On one of the
newsgroups noted that someone uses her Ott light. You could do an Exposure Test
with the Ott light to check for time.
****Exposure Test****
Take an image that is a longish design. Keep all but a SMALL portion covered
from the light. Expose it to the light for a timed amount....say 2 minutes. Move
the covering over to expose MORE (exposed plus some new unexposed) of the
design. Expose for the SAME amount of time. Keep doing this until All is exposed
to light. So you will have increments of exposure. Wash film and print test
strip. Examine to see which section printed the best and use THAT time for
your Ott light exposures.******
=====Suggested agenda for Feb 16th
Meeting
=Demo -Cindy
Siewart on Precious Metals Clay (PMC)
(PMC) is a dramatic new medium for the creation of jewelry and sculpture.
Silver PMC is composed of silver particles, water, and an organic binder. After
kiln firing, only fine silver (.999) remains. It can be worked with close to the
same ease as polymer clay. Like polymer, PMC "takes" texture very well
and can be fired multiple times. There's also little waste--as long as it hasn't
be fired, the clay and be rehydrated and reused if a project isn't to one's
liking. Fired objects can be worked with traditional metal-smithing techniques
if desired. PMC can be combined with fused glass and, following firing, with
polymer clay. The clay currently costs $30.00 an ounce, less if you buy in
quantity. As far as I'm concerned, the ease of working with PMC more than
justifies its cost. Most of the skills developed as a polymer artist transfer
directly to PMC. [I haven't figured out how to do cane work yet, but I'm
trying!] I'll bring some extra clay to the meeting if anyone's wants to give it
a try, and I'd be happy to fire small pieces for those interested. If
anybody's interested in classes, send me an e-mail: cseiwert@mac.com or
give me a call 860-345-8226. I'm now an officially certified instructor [!].
==Membership Brochures will be distributed to new members and updated materials
will be passed out to all members
==Clay ConneCTion 2002 discussion and planning
==Announcements
==Show-and-Tell/Show-and-Help/Show-and Brag
Looking Ahead:
Discussion on new Kato Polyclay by
Sue Rankin at our April Meeting
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Goodrow
203-245-2910
deb_twinkle@yahoo.com